Students become circus clowns, sleuths, travelers

January Interim gives non-traditional learning opportunities

Students learn to get in touch with their creative sides in Creativity@Play, one of the on-campus January Interim courses offered in 2011 at Wofford. Participants learned how to draw, play harmonica and even juggle.

2012-01-09

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Students who have ever thought about running away to the circus, or aspired to be the next Jay Leno, or fantasized about being a great crime-solver, or just longed to travel the world can live out those dreams during Wofford College’s January Interim – a time for exploration and experiential learning away from the rigors of their traditional academic courses.

Interim is designed to foster hands-on, non-traditional and experiential learning – for both students and professors. Students may choose from a variety of on-campus courses, professional internships, study abroad opportunities or their own independent study project, approved and guided by a faculty adviser.

The 2012 Interim, which runs through Feb. 1, includes such courses as “The Circus,” in which students will study the circus, learn high-flying trapeze skills, and actually “become” circus clowns by creating their own clown personae; discover the world of forensic science in “The Mystery of Lyle & Louise;” delve into the dark environs of spies in “From Wofford with Love: The History and Culture of Espionage;” check out the phenomenon of women and their bikes in “I Ride My Own: Women & Motorcycles;” and learn how to be the next funny man or woman in “Stand-Up Comedy.”

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One course, “How a City Works,” has students visiting a variety of municipal agencies to get an up-close, and sometimes hands-on, look at the inner-workings of a city. “Pulp Theatre” again will produce a unique theatre production during Interim. Other students are learning how to play the guitar, how to hone their artists’ eyes or be a self-taught artist, how to knit and purl, and the ins-and-outs of the advertising world. There are culinary courses, music, self-defense, dance, web and app development, outdoors and climbing courses, and more.

Independent study projects include a variety of medical, dental and veterinary internships as well as projects developed by individual students or small groups of students. This year, these include: “Discrepancies and Diseases in Dragapur, India,” in which a student will join a medical mission team, shadowing doctors and providing health education to women and children in India; “Backcountry Medicine,” a student learning to be a ski patrol and emergency medical technician on the slopes of Breckenridge, Col.; and “Digital Music Production,” students learning how to make music. (For more details on these and other independent projects, contact Laura Corbin at 597-4180 or laura.corbin@wofford.edu.)